First Encounter
by Star Ribbon
Summary: Okay, his plan backfired. But the outcome was better than what he planned. [Mithoscentric][Heavy Spoilers]


_Disclaimer_: Tales of Symphonia belongs to Namco. It's certainly not mine; that much I think everyone knows.

_Author's Note_: So, this isn't exactly my first ToS fanfic, but it is my first one here on this site. This wasn't intended to be the first one I wrote, but hey, I guess I'll just have to hope for the best, right? Oh, yes: there are indeed heavy spoilers, cause it focuses mainly on Mithos. Please don't kill me if I spoiled the game for you. .-.;

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It wasn't often that Mithos's plans backfired on him. But when it did, one could imagine that he would grumble about it for _hours_ upon hours - after all, his beautiful, flawless plans were supposed to be just.. that.

Take, for instance, his great idea of keeping tabs on the various ranches and places that held important items (such as Cruxis Crystals) so that they wouldn't go missing without notice.

...No one had the guts to mention that he should have come up with that idea _before_ Kratos went off and married that Anna girl. For, oh yes, Mithos had only the smart idea to come up with it in the last two years or so.

Usually, he deemed a lower Desian worthy of keeping tabs on the smaller items with his new plan, and would only allow his Grand Cardinals to look after the grander, more important... stuff.

In reality.. what he wouldn't tell anyone was... well, Mithos really didn't care about Cruxis Crystals. He didn't need to know where the Tethe'alla royal family jewels went; he could care less about the ruins of Asgard.

His new idea was only implemented for one reason: to give him his privacy.

For it seemed that the leader of a great organization as Cruxis (and the Desians) was never left alone.

His little spy Zelos was always pestering him about something stupid like sacred wood (and now that he thought about it, Kratos had been asking him about it earlier. But he trusted Kratos. Zelos was... ew. Really, he didn't want to go there); Pronyma was always trying to tell him something... the list would never end.

So, if his little plan was to give him the space he needed, why was _he_ the one on Tethe'alla, and not someone like Pronyma?

He knew all too well; he'd sent the Grand Cardinal to keep tabs on Kratos. The Chosen of Sylvarant's group had conquered the remaining Cardinals (except for Rodyle. But Mithos couldn't contact him at the moment for one reason or another)... and Yuan?

Mithos could live without sending him off to look after some stupid Cruxis Crystal. (Besides, Yuan was always leaving him alone these days. He wasn't fighting as often as he had back then... it was weird, but Mithos liked that he was getting his personal space back)

...Now that he thought about it, though, why hadn't he? It would be another way to get revenge on him, after all. And revenge on Yuan - the guy who practically stole Martel from him (they had even **kissed**! On numerous occasions!) - was always good.

In any case, it was too late now.

He had told his angels he would be down here; he had let Yuan go off to do whatever it was that Yuan did at this point in time.

The building was standing right in front of him. All he had to do was walk in, check in on the crystal, and walk back a certain distance before he could fly back to Derris-Kharlan.

Simple enough, right?

Holding his arms out slightly, Mithos inspected himself. He didn't look like the leader of Cruxis (and the Desians)... at least, not when he was in his so-called 'true' form, right?

His outfit didn't look too outlandish; at least, it appeared like a normal tourist outfit of sorts. If it came to it, he could blame his style on Tethe'alla's Chosen. Heavens knew he had enough fashion sense to spare.

Feeling satisfied with the way he looked, the blond walked up to the building. Eying the doors, he glanced over at a nearby priestess.

"Are the doors open?" He asked in an innocent voice, smiling.

It was obvious that she wasn't expecting him; her eyes widened slightly as she realized that, yes, he was indeed a visitor.

"Y... yes," She replied. "I don't know why you're visiting this place, though. Not many tend to, anyhow.."

He continued smiling. "I just wanted to see this place, **miss**," He empathized the last word with extra politeness because, really, he needed her to leave him alone.

Nodding, she let him be. "...Welcome to the Southeast Abbey," She added softly as he walked in.

Shutting the doors behind him, Mithos headed towards the second story. The Cruxis Crystal here belonged to some girl or another - he didn't know the details. It was really Pronyma who did.

All he knew was that he had to make sure it was still there (because, as stupid as it sounded, it was part of his latest plan). As he walked up the stairs, however, he could pick up bits and pieces of a conversation.

'_Seles,_' That was a male voice. Mithos paused; it would do no good to interrupt a conversation just to ask awkwardly about a Cruxis Crystal.

'_What is it, Zelos?_'

...Zelos. What was his little spy doing here?

'_...wanted you... come... ...Meltokio... festival..._'

He couldn't hear any more of the conversation from this point; it was as if someone had realized that he was there.

Then, footsteps.

As the Chosen of Tethe'alla hurriedly ran past him, Mithos breathed a sigh of relief. Good, he was in such a hurry to get out that he didn't notice who was on the stairs, waiting.

Finally seizing the chance, he climbed the final steps to the second story.

The crystal was supposedly in the second room to the right... yet, the door was shut.

He knocked. "May I come in?"

"Who are you?"

That was harsh. Mithos paused for a moment; now, he'd have to come up with some silly story to just come in. That wasn't what he had expected - but then again, he wasn't barging in as who he really was, now, was he?

"I'm a musician," He replied calmly, as if he was going to say that from the start. "I heard you liked music, so..."

The door cracked open slightly; he saw blue eyes peek from behind.

"State your name?"

"Mithos."

It was a common name in Tethe'alla now. Surely it was all right to give out his real name?

The door opened fully now, revealing a girl who looked about fourteen. Motioning for him to come in, she sat on the bed.

"So, Mithos, you came here to visit me because you're a musician? This is an odd place to be playing music."

He laughed slightly. She was a polite one, that's for sure.

"Well, I'm just spending the night here on my way over to..."

"To? There's not much that's near here," She politely replied.

Mithos could sense that she wasn't really believing his story. How could he somehow discreetly ask her about the Cruxis Crystal here in the Abbey? He hadn't seen anyone in here with one...

"You're right, but my ship ran out of fuel," He hurriedly explained. "I came here to spend the night, and perhaps ask where I could get some more."

She nodded; it seemed she was satisfied with his story.

"I see. Perhaps the priestess around here would know about it, but..."

"But?"

"Mithos, may I ask your age..?"

He tilted his head to the side, as if to say, '_That was random_'. "I'm... fourteen." (Technically, it's the truth... kinda.)

She smiled slightly. "Really..? I'm fourteen too. It's been a while since I've been around anyone my age."

He leaned against the wall, laughing slightly. "Heh... it's been a while for me too."

"A musician like you hasn't seen anyone your age? That's curious."

Mithos inwardly groaned. There went a hole in his story... "My... guardian," He began, trying to pick the right word out. "..doesn't let me hang out around people my age. He says that I would be a bad influence or something."

Was she... giggling?

If so, then why? Mithos didn't see anything funny by that. The girl could see his frown; she covered her mouth with her hand.

"I'm.. sorry. It's just that I can't see how you could be a bad influence on someone."

The irony... Mithos laughed again, smiling weakly. "Yeah... I guess so. So, erm... miss..?"

"The name's Seles," She answered, looking up at the ceiling as she stretched out on the bed. "Is there something you wanted to ask, Mithos?"

Oh, right! The Cruxis Crystal.

"This might sound a little awkward, but I heard rumors about a weird jewel being here..." He finally asked, sub-conscientiously fiddling with his hands.

She paused, letting a thoughtful expression reside on her face. "...Oh! Do you mean the Cruxis Crystal? If so, then yes, it's here."

...Now that he had known it was here (most likely safe and sound), Mithos figured that it was time to leave.

Pronyma was proably waiting for him outside. If anyone asked why he would be leaving so soon, he could just say that his ship was actually more okay than he thought it had been.

Yet, he _didn't_ want to leave - he didn't know what, but this girl.. there was something about her that he liked. He normally didn't even like stupid humans, either (well, except for Kratos. But ever since he betrayed him, Mithos didn't know if that like was still there)

As she leaned up, brushing back strands of her red hair from her face, he could see pointy ears sticking out.

His eyes widened slightly - was she... could she be... like him?

"You're a... half-elf..?"

"Actually, I'm a quarter-elf. My mother was a half-elf," She paused, looking over at him curiously. "...Is there something wrong, Mithos?"

Was there such a thing as a freaky coincidence? Not only was this beautiful girl his age (if he had been born in the present - but he looked the same age, didn't he?), but... she was a quarter-elf too.

He pulled back the blond hair he carefully kept hidden most of the time. "...I'm a half-elf," He explained.

Was it possible for her smile to widen? "Wow. You're a musician and a half-elf? That's impressive, considering that this is Tethe'alla..."

...Right. He was a musician. Mentally slapping himself for forgetting that so quickly, Mithos nodded. "Yeah..."

He turned to leave then, glancing over his shoulder to look at her. "It was nice to meet you, Seles."

As he began to walk out, her voice stopped him.

"Mithos! Could you please.. wait?"

He stopped. "Yes?"

Why was her face so... red? Bowing slightly, she took her hat off. "...I know this sounds silly, but could you please come back some time soon? It was nice talking to you, and I rarely get company."

...He didn't know why he was smiling like that. "..Sure," He said. "If possible, I can come every other week."

"I'd like that," She answered. "I'll look forward to your next visit. Since you're spending the night, I'll see you in the morning?"

Why was his thoat getting this funny feeling..? He knew he wasn't spending the night; he had to see Pronyma and get back to Derris-Kharlan.

"Y-yeah..."

He finally left, letting Seles shut the door behind him.

As he made his way to the edge of the island where Pronyma waited, the blond couldn't really think.

There were plans to be made - he would have to infiltrate that Lloyd's group soon, as his little spy wasn't helping him too much; he would have to see what his Kratos was really up to.

So, why was her face in the front of his thoughts? Her polite smile, her gentle yet shy manner...

He ran a hand through his hair.

"Lord Yggdrasil, are you ready to leave?"

Her voice was unusually annoying tonight. He paused, though, at her words.

Smiling unusually cheerfully, he said, "Nope. I'm staying the night here, Proynma. See me tomorrow, okay?"

It was needless to say as he turned to walk back to the Abbey, he left an extremely confused Proynma behind.

"What was that all about...?" She murmured. Turning to leave, though, she shrugged. "Lord Yggdrasil has his reasons," The Grand Cardinal surmised as she flew off into the sky.

"He always does."


End file.
